And catch the 411 podcast every Monday and Thursday throughout the offseason. Here’s the link to the iTunes page. This will get you to the video podcast page. To listen to the audio podcasts, click on “See All Podcasts” and then hit “Audio Podcasts.”

That’s all for now,

Zach

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

6 Comments

Good, let’s get back to baseball. Not that I’m ready for another 6 month marathon yet, but fantasy football is really depressing me. So far, I’ve gone from 3-1 to 3-7 in one league, and from 5-1 to 5-5 in another. Apparently, some of the baseball axioms are not true in football. Runners don’t always run, and receivers don’t always receive. Or if they do, they don’t always get into the end zone.

I think an interesting topic might be postseason overachievers. Sometimes, these players catch fantasy owners’ attention while they’re on the big stage, and are overvalued on draft day. However, I think this year was different. I can’t really think of anyone (other than maybe Jeff Mathis and Carlos Ruiz) who fit this description. On the contrary, I think there were more “status quo” guys, such as Cliff Lee, ARod, CC, Utley, and Werth, who performed about as expected, and underachievers, such as Hamels, Kazmir and Kershaw. I think the latter 3 still have some questions to answer next year. Hamels showed flashes of brilliance, both during the season and the postseason, but hasn’t found the consistency to gain confidence in the fantasy community as an ace starter yet. The same goes for Kershaw, who still battled bouts of wildness during the postseason, much as he did during the regular season. And the Angels became the 3rd team to try to find the potential ace qualities from Kazmir, and the jury is still out on him as well.

Greg,
Nice job by the Bengals, they deserved it. We touched on this topic a few weeks ago and I think you are right. I always default to the 03′ Beckett who dominated October and then was overvalued in 04′ drafts, but he’s now been replaced by the 08′ Hamels. I’m not giving up on Hamels just yet b/c i think he could be a bargain next year. His 08′ numbers werent that dramatically different but his increases were in the wrong cats. kershaw should have more questions to answer next year since he’ll only be 22 on opening day 2010. Kazmir is YPNM. He could bounce back to the k per inning guy of a year ago and that’s fine but there is something about him that makes me nervous. All three took a hit like you said so that makes all of them sleepers in some shape or form, trick is picking the right one……..Siano

I hear you. In football, I have a habit of playing the team that scores the most points every week. Incredibly frustrating. Anyone who says that diligent draft preparation directly correlates to winning in fantasy football is absolutely nuts.

I too am aboard the Hamels bandwagon. Hits allowed was the one major difference between the ’09 Hamels and the ’08 Hamels and that is a category that tends to vary from year to year. I still think he’s closer to the guy who dominated for much of 2007 and 2008. No, I won’t feel comfortable drafting him as an ace in standard mixed leagues, but he’s a great No. 2 with upside. It’ll be interesting to see just how much he’ll slip in drafts as he’s still a name. Will he fall to Rounds 11-12? If so, I’m grabbing him.

I’m in the wait and see camp on Hamels. He injured his elbow in April and when he returned never used his curve, until the World Series and even then sparingly. While never confirmed, many felt he just “wasn’t right”, BABIP notwithstanding. His fast ball is not good enough for him to be a 2 pitch starter. AFAIC, he’s got to prove something in spring training to reclaim old draft status.

On the flip side, if Hanson develops his changeup to combat the lefties, he could become the Atlanta ace in a pretty impressive starting staff, since he ran over righties with his hammer, hook, and slider.

Hi guys, I have more keeper questions. We are changing our long standing keeper league from a Snake draft to an Auction. Does anyone know how ESPN auctions handle bench/reserve players? Do they have to come out of your $260 budget, or do you snake draft for reserves like in Tout? We will have 22 man starting rosters and 5 man bench.
Also I have more potential keepers than spaces, so I know, I need to trade (I can hear Cory in my head right now!). But with dollar value it is all new to me. Should I keep the guys who will save me the most money on draft day, or should I make sure to protect my biggest bats even if I am only breaking even on draft day. I have some slam dunks like Utley and A-Rod at great prices but then, after inflation, I have Rajah Davis for $4, or Drew Stubbs for $4, each of whom could be in the $15-$18 range on draft day. Or I have Braun at $38, Sizemore for $35 or Cano at $19. All better talents, but giving me less potential savings on draft day. I want to save money, but I need the best talent on my roster right?

Kevin,
Not sure about ESPN, you should have plenty of time to figure it out or should find their fantasy customer service department and give them a ring or e-mail. You need to balance the savings and the true value and realize that even though Braun or Sizemore may be a good price you could guarantee a Davis and/or Stubbs at tremendous values and still get Braun back for $35-$40 on draft day. I am not afraid to keep a guy at a high price but I can be very competitive in getting him back while keeping the big values. Hope this helps…….Siano

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.